Can-marking machine.



No. 875,092. PATENTED DEC. 81, 1907.

' I. S. MERRELL.

CAN MARKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 31, 1906.

N VENYUH:

INE NORRIS PETERS co., wsnmafmv, D- c. l

ITRVING MERRELL, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO MERRELL-SOULE COMPANY, O SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

CAN-MARKING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Eutented Decr31, 1907.

Application filed Juiy 31.1905. se uin 271love.

' ings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

his invention relates to improvements incite-marking machines, and is particularly useful in eanningiiectories for the purpose'o'f blending or stamping certitin marks or characters upon the cans, as they are successively fed, one-by-one, along a suitable guide or table after being filled with the material to be preserved.

It is common practice to label or brand the cans for different materials, or those containing difierent grades of the same material, by

some distinguishing mark or character, but

so far its I am aware, this has been done only by means of e hand-stump.

My object is to automatically impress or print the distin uishin brand or mark upon the bottom of t 1e fille can as it is automaticully fed from one piece to another during the process of cunning, and to enable the operetor to easily and quickly change the stamp whendesited, without stopping or retarding the operation of-the machine.

A more specific object is to move the marker at the same rate of speed we in the same direction as that of the can, preferably under s rolling contact with the bottom of the cans, so as to lea e a uniformly perfect impression or print-in substantially the same relative position on the bottom. of eeoh can, where the mark is protected from obliteration by the annular flange 'with which said can is provided, and to provide means for transferring the printing ink to the marker at regular intervals, or at each printing oporation A further object is to enable the marker to be stopped or started at will irrespective of the can feeding mechanism.

Other objeot'send uses will appear in the following description.

In the drawin sFigure 1 is a longitudinal side elevation o a can-marking device embodying the features of my invention, the can supporting table being shown in section, and the cans and their feeding means being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a top plan of the st marking device seen in Fig. 1, the marking wheel, clutch and other parts being shown insection. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on line 3-3, Big. 1, showi'n the manner of securing type stamps to the w eel. Fig; 4 is s detail view of a; portion of a mark-. ing-wheel showin' a circumierentially edjustable type-bloc as provided with a. series of marking faces, each representing a, dif ferent brand. Fig. '5 is e sections-l view, partly in elevation, of the modified marking device seen in Fig. 4.

During the process of canning, the filled cans are fed right side up along a supportingv bed or guide by a suitable conveyer' so as to follow one another in more or less close proximity, end are preferably stamped on the bottoms while in transit from the filler to the capping machine.

The specific means for supporting these cans and feeding them successively to the marking device is immaterial, and I have, therefore, shown, somewhat diagrammatic ally, a supporting-bed or guide A- and a. portion of e conveyer B-, the latter being shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, as

provided with a. series of arms, or abutments,

spaced equal distance ape-rt for engaging and successively feeding the cans, onebyone, to my improved marking device. This marking device comprises, in this instance,-

a rotary disk or Wheel -1 having a series of type 2 speeed e uidistant apart circumferentially, said whee being mounted upon a 1'0 ary shaft 4 which is positively driven by belt or chain +5- from a driving shaft -6, the latter being in turn 'driven from any available source of'power through the medium of a second endless belt 7- and clutch -,7'-.

The rotary shaft 4- is shown as mounted in a horizontal position upon one end of an oscillatory lever 8', which is ful'crumed on the shaft --6yand has its other end provided with e counter-weight -9, whereby the type-wheel -l is yieldingly res'sed against the can.

The mar ting-wheel seen in Figs. 1 to 3, is provided with a. series of four stamps or type 2 which travel in a. suitable opening 10 in the guide or bed -A, and are preferably made of rubber and secured to woodblocks 11, which,-in turn, are' ferential fitting snugly between the shoulders 1'3 which hold them firmly against cifcumdisplacement. This wheel is mounted u on an angular ta ering end -14 of t e shaft 4, Whidl latter fits into a tapering an ular socket centrally in the-hub of the W eel l so that the wheel is held solely by friction upon the tapering end of the shaft ..4 andmay be removed endwise, by hand, when it is desired I to change from one brand to another.

it may be easily and quickly taken ofl and replaced by another when necessary. v

The speed of rotation of 'the wheel 1 is synchronized with the speed of movement of the conveyer B in any well known manner, not necessary to herein describe, the only requirement being that the marker and can 'move'. in unison under a rolling contact, thereby giving a perfect impression or print of the particular brand of goods upon each can.- I

The type 2 may'L be inked in any .desired manner-as by an inking roller 16,

which in this instance, contacts with the type op osite the printing point and is preferab y mounted upon one end of a lever 17', which is pivoted at 18, to the lever 8 between the fulcrum 6 and shaft 4 and its other end extends rearwardly and is pressed downwardly by a compression-spring 19, thereby yieldingly holding the eriphery of the inking roller -16.- in tli type +2i t will be observed that the type-wheels are recessed or cut away between the typeblocks to afford finger space andallow the type-wheel to be placed upon or withdrawn by hand from the shaft '4-, the movement of the conveyer B- and printingwheel 1 being sufficiently slow to permit the operator to withdrawone wheel and replace it with another while changing from the canning of'on'e quality or bran of material to another. This recessing of the periphery of the wheel, forms in this instance, four ari'ns, each carrying afixed type-block11, vbut in some instances I prefer to use an admay have a series of blocksthe cans with a difierent brand, but I prefer to use a se arate removable ty e wheel or type-arm or each brand so t at e path of the moving justable type block, as '11, Fig. 4, which is rotatingly mounted on one of the arms 1-, similar to the wheel -1 and is provided with a plurality of type-faces -2, either of which may be brought to the printing-position by merely rotating the I upon its supporting spindle 12'.

Each of the type 2- represents a different brand so that by providing the wheel l- With four of these blocks 11 each rotatable upon its "spindle 12, it is evident that four diflerent brands may be printed from the same type-wheel without removing it from its driving shaft.

It will be seen upon reference to Fig. 5 that the rotary spindle 12 upon which the type-block 11 is secured is passed through an aperture 20 in the wheel 1 and is encircled by a friction compression-spring -21 having one end bearing against the opposite side of the wheel and its other end tensioned by a suitable nut 22-, .the

block being held against rotation by one or more .pins or studs 23 which are movable into and out of apertures 24 in the disk or wheel 1 at one side of the pin 12.

Each'ofthe type-blocks 11 is provided with a knob or hand-piece -24 whereby when it is desired to change thd type or brand the block 1 1- is drawn out against the action of the spring -21 and thereby withdraws the pin 2-3 from the aperture -24=, whereupon the block 11 may be readily rotated to bring the desired type to the printin point, in which position, the pin 23- will enter another one of the apertures 24 and will be held against rotation by saidpin and the spring 21-.

The operation, briefly stated, is as follows: The cans, as C, are fed successively along the guide A by meansof aconveyer B-, and as each can is brought into registration. with the opening 10-, one of the type -2 is simultaneously brought into rolling contactwith the can, thereby imprinting its particular brand thereon, When it i-desired to change the brand or stamp, the operator sim ly grasps the wheel 1 in the hand, an draws it endwise from the tapering angular end 14 and then replaces it with another Wheel having the desired type thereon, which may be done while the Wheel is in motion, or while it is temporarily stopped by throwing theclutch 7 out of action.

I believe that I am the first to produce a device for automatically branding or marking the cans during the process of canning,

and therefore, I donot limit myself to the construction of device shown and describe What I claim: A can markim machine comprising a can supporting bed having an opening therein, means to feed the cans right side up along the bed and acress said opening, a rotary In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my type (aarrying disk having its type traveling hand this 28 day of July 1905.

in sai 0penin and making rolling contact v with the bottoi' ns of the cans as the latter are IRVING MERRELL' successively presented to said opening, a Witnesses:

yielding support for the type carrying disk H. E. CHASE,

and means to rotate said dis HOWARD P. DENISON. 

